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5 Libras
| Issuer | Companhia de Moçambique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#R21 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO DA BEIRA PAGARÁ A VISTA AO PORTADOR CINCO LIBRAS ESTERLINAS OURO COMPANHIA DE MOÇAMBIQUE |
| Reverse description | Printed in dark brown and tan, the reverse is centred on a large oval guilloche medallion in intaglio style bearing the sterling symbol '£' and numeral '5', encircled by the inscription 'CINCO LIBRAS ESTERLINAS OURO'; two ornate tasselled column vignettes flank the central oval, with intricate lathe-work guilloche panels filling the corners and margins. Denomination numeral '5' repeats in four scalloped cartouches at the corners, and a sunburst device appears at top centre above the main medallion. |
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| Comments |
The Companhia de Moçambique — a chartered company granted authority over the territories of Manica and Sofala — had the unusual right to issue its own currency, entirely independent of the Portuguese colonial administration in Lourenço Marques. That arrangement, more common in the seventeenth century than the twentieth, persisted here because the company's concession gave it quasi-governmental powers over its territory until 1942.
Bradbury Wilkinson produced the plates in London, which was standard practice for colonial currency of this class. The 1919 date places this note in a period of post-war economic pressure, when the company's revenues from its Beira port operations and the Trans-Zambesia Railway were under strain.
The Libra denomination tied the company's currency to sterling rather than the Portuguese Escudo — a deliberate commercial choice reflecting where the money actually moved.